PITTSBURGH - If there is any cause for hope for the Blue Jays and their beleaguered manager Alex Anthopoulos, it can be found here in the city that Andy Warhol once called home.

Pittsburgh can teach a thing or two to a franchise that has been in a prolonged rut.

It is a black-and-blue, meat-grinding type of burgh, one that is ferociously loyal to its beloved Steelers, a team that has been a NFL superpower for decades.

Not this season, though, as the Steelers stink, but in this city that wears its blue collar tag proudly, even though they count Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby among its sporting elite, the hapless Pirates finally broke through this season.

After 21 years of wandering outside the postseason and posting 20 consecutive seasons of sub-.500 campaigns, the Pirates reached the promised land this season and thanks to a three-game spanking of Cincinnati at their park this past weekend, they have earned the right to face those same Reds team in the one-game, winner-take-all wild-card tilt on Tuesday at what will be a raucous PNC Park, home of the Pirates.